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possitive k
04-19-2006, 05:54 AM
i currently run vho and was wandering what if any corals i can keep? or do i need to run mh with atinics? i currently have a few mushrooms but mostly have been fish only and would like to start putting corals in.

thanks.

seashells
04-19-2006, 06:33 AM
You can put corals which are low light. Some of them can be a challenge. Sun corals, chilli coral and carnation coral to name a few. The sun coral polyps need to be feed every couple days. Many of these live in dark caves with high current flow and lots of food in the water. Others like wavng hands coral, colt corals or xenias are easier.

Doug

SeaHorse_Fanatic
04-19-2006, 06:49 AM
Zoos are also low light. There are many reefers who have had good success with various corals under VHO. I think Marie in Powell River had hers grow like crazy under VHO & only recently did she switch to MH. Just make sure the med. light corals go up higher & the low light ones stay low.

For people starting out, it is usually more cost effective to just spend the $$ on MH because most of us tend to like higher & higher light requiring animals (ie. clams) that really do best under MH & not having to upgrade is sooooo much cheaper. However, since you already have a VHO system, keep your corals high & you should be ok.

Anthony

Willow
04-19-2006, 07:02 AM
brown zoos like lower light, anything with colour is going to want higher wattage light.

seashells
04-19-2006, 07:20 AM
brown zoos like lower light, anything with colour is going to want higher wattage light.

Except for maybe pink or yellow carnation corals.

Willow
04-19-2006, 07:22 AM
well carnation coral isnt really a zoo now is it :razz:

StirCrazy
04-19-2006, 12:15 PM
brown zoos like lower light,

and that is a generalization also as my Brown Zoo's loved the MH.. I still contend any coral soft, LPS or SPS (aside from a select few) will do just as good if not better under more intense lighting if it is introduced properly.

Steve

marie
04-19-2006, 02:53 PM
Here's a pic of my 75g before I put MH's on it. There are 4 110w vhos


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/vho.jpg

TheReefGeek
04-19-2006, 05:12 PM
Was there a noticeable difference when you did go to MH?

Great looking tank by the way, how long did that cap take to grow!

marie
04-19-2006, 09:04 PM
Here's a pic taken 2 months after I put metal halides on the tank and approx 6 months after the last pic was taken

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/2006_0207Image0002.jpg

TheReefGeek
04-19-2006, 09:17 PM
Impressive growth!

Do you think stuff is growing faster under the halides?

marie
04-19-2006, 10:01 PM
Impressive growth!

Do you think stuff is growing faster under the halides?

Yes, everything did grow faster but that's not necessarily a good thing :razz: . It meant my cal and alk consumption skyrocketed and I very rapidily ran out of room and had to do some major pruning. I was actually happier with the growth under vho's and the colour was good. The only thing I didn't like, was all the sps needing the top half of the aquarium.

Doug
04-19-2006, 10:16 PM
Great looking corals, Marie. :smile:

I like the VHO look better. I still say when I moved some of my sps to my friends 120 w/660w of VHO, they improved. A greenish acro colony developed beautiful blue tips, as an example.

His were higher up also but I still wonder if they could have been lower down. Did you try any of yours lower?

possitive k
04-20-2006, 04:58 AM
wow thanks for all the info, i will eventualy go to mh but right now funds are short and i want to get a good set up. thanks again for the info.
by the way nice tank marie.